Responses
to June - July 2011 Hot Topic
Australia's
National Volunteering Strategy - views from afar about where we may be going
right ...and wrong
Response posted by Fairlie Crozier, National Volunteer Development Manager, St John, Manuka, ACT on July 19, 2011
Thank you Rob for your
valued and highly insightful article. I apologise for being so
late in responding! As Wendy rightly pointed out, we could
discuss the issues you raised at length for months but I just
wanted to comment on your points about the “time poverty
people”. I agree with you, and tend to think that the reason
for not volunteering is not about being time poor but that the
volunteer roles on offer are no longer attractive enough for
priority.
Wendy made the point that
there are many valid reasons for not volunteering including
changes in circumstances, loss of job, gain of job, study,
travel, family, loss of loved ones, etc. We often hear about
the apparent claim that people are more and more busy. I
would argue that none of these things are new. Fifty years ago
people still had sudden changes in circumstances, loss of
jobs, gain of jobs, study, travel, etc. I believe it is more
about the priority that is placed on volunteering that has
changed, not the level of “time poverty”.
I wish I had the answers
to how to ‘fix’ this issue! I don’t. However, I believe the
government could assist in terms of education and promotion of
volunteering. If volunteering becomes a ‘natural part of life’
for all of our young Australians, like brushing your teeth or
doing your homework then we would have no problem. As Rob
said, busy people can fit volunteering in!
Response posted by Wendy Moore, Volunteer Manager, Brisbane, Queensland on June 25, 2011
To address every aspect of this very in-depth hot topic would require a very detailed and lengthy response. I will focus on one area – Volunteer Opportunities, and leave the other areas for others to address.
I think that there is definitely a need for volunteer managers to have the flexibility in their programs to accommodate episodic volunteers. As you suggest Rob we lead very busy lives and the excuse of “not enough time” probably relates to the perception of the commitment required to volunteer. In the traditional model of volunteering some organisations actually specify a time period of commitment to volunteering; a regular weekly shift over a period of 12 months for example. What if that person is unable to fulfil that time commitment? While it would be great to have that commitment from people, it is not always possible for people to either make or keep that commitment. People are unpredictable and life is unpredictable. Any number of things can impact on a person’s life and their commitment to volunteering; a change in circumstance, loss of a job, gain of a job perhaps in another state or country, commencing study, travel, health issues, either their own or their loved ones, a life changing event such as a death or serious illness in the family prompting a reassessment of priorities. These are all very valid reasons for not being able to commit to a specific timeframe of volunteering.
We, as volunteer managers, need to have the flexibility in our programs to accommodate this emerging trend in volunteering, for to remain rigid in our volunteer program structure may mean the demise of our volunteer programs because they no longer attract as many volunteers. This may be because emerging trends in the way people volunteer no longer match the traditional volunteering model. While altruism may be one aspect of volunteering, many people volunteer for different reasons; for experience for their tertiary study, to gain experience for a job, to practice conversational English skills and for many other reasons. Volunteering needs to fit into study, work, childcare and leisure activities. The structure of our volunteer programs needs to provide a variety of meaningful tasks with flexibility to accommodate changing schedules and volunteering commitments.
A balance of traditional volunteering with episodic volunteering provides stability yet flexibility within its structure.
I have posted a slightly modified version of this article on my blog and on I-Volunteer.
http://wendy-moore.blogspot.com/2011/06/volunteer-opportunities-flexibility-is.html
http://www.i-volunteer.org.uk/wendymoore/volunteer-opportunitiesflexibility-is-the-key/
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